Eyes of the Cuervo / Ojos del Crow is Joseph Hutchison’s 17th collection of poems.
Title: Eyes of the Cuervo / Ojos del Crow
ISBN: 9781610195034
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Length: 72 pages
Binding: Trade paper
Eyes of the Cuervo/Ojos del Crow is a bilingual edition of poems written at one of two “boutique” posadas—Capitán Lafitte or its equally soulful successor, Petit Lafitte—both situated north of Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean coast of México. The poems have been translated into Spanish by Patricia Herminia and illustrated by Colorado artist Sabina Espinet.
The edition is limited to 250 copies, numbered and signed by the author.
Click here to read poems from the book
Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate 2014-2019, has published 20 collections of poems and edited or co-edited three poetry anthologies. He currently directs two master’s-level programs for University College at the University of Denver: Professional Creative Writing and Arts & Culture Management. Joe lives with his wife, Melody Madonna, in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, the city where he was born. 
What a lovely, often meditative collection. Hutchison’s poems deft and pictoral. Being who I am, I’m particularly drawn to “Mesero,” and approve the decision to reverse English/Spanish as needed. That’s what I’ve always imagined will have to happen with my bilingual poems, should they be translated. The Spanish in them will have to become English.
But “Mesero,” yes, that nod to the void between such a place of origin and us, to the incomprehensibility of the foreign, like “Pitufo,” the burro braying for existential angst, or who knows what. I also love “Hyakutake,” the comet poem, for its tenderness, for the way it ends, with sueño whispering into consciousness from the jungle, which should know.
In Spanish, I might have said, susurra la selva/y debería saber. Leave the pronoun out, as Spanish can and so often does, but I’m no English to Spanish translation expert. All I can say about the Spanish is it seems correct and sounds good. A native speaker who translates from English might quibble with this or that choice—as the next translator to come along usually does—but it all sounds good to me.
An exquisite snapshot of a place the poet loves and returns to often, of its vivid seaside flora and fauna, of the harmonious, touching relationship this poet has with his wife, of the writer’s inevitable fascination with language and with discovering how learning another enriches your own.
[…] late April I launched my new collection, Eyes of the Cuervo | Ojos del Crow, at the boutique seaside hotel Melody and I have enjoyed every year for more than two decades. […]
Congratulations, I will definitely want to read this, to own it perhaps. And as I said in my recent email, we have much in common. My next collection will be The Gift Bird.